Estate Planning Attorney in New York

Law Firm of Mark S. Eghrari & Associates PLLC

Law Firm Overview

Mark S. Eghrari and Associates PLLC is a leading provider of expert estate planning guidance on Long Island, NY. We offer estate planning for individuals and families that minimize taxes and protect against the high cost of nursing care in order to preserve assets for future generations.

Law Firm of Mark S. Eghrari & Associates PLLC - Providing services in the following areas of law:

Articles Published by Law Firm of Mark S. Eghrari & Associates PLLC

Choosing an executor for your will or estate is necessary to make sure your wishes are carried out after your death. Not only should your executor be responsible, but they should also know how you think. Sometimes, we overlook certain parts of our estate, either because they seem insignificant to us or because they simply slipped our mind. Should this happen, your executor will be expected to provide a resolution.

Most people look forward to coming up with an estate plan about as much as they look forward to going in for a root canal. However, with the right help, having an effective estate plan in place does not have to be difficult, and it’s a necessary part of taking care of your family. Here are a few simple errors to avoid:

If you’re familiar with living trusts, then you know that one of the big benefits of a trust is the ability to avoid probate. This is possible because the trust holds title to your property and assets, with you in control as the Trustee. When you pass on, your Successor Trustee steps in and maintains control over the trust and the assets it holds but the title to those assets never actually changes hands.

Funding your living trust is an important part of estate planning, especially if your goal is to avoid probate. Here are some tips for how and with what to fund your living trust. A living trust offers a variety of benefits and is an essential component of any good estate plan. With it, you can minimize estate taxes, protect your property from creditors and lawsuits and even avoid the costly process of probate.

You can withdraw money from your IRA at any time, but there are sometimes penalties or income tax associated. The rules vary depending on whether you have a Roth or a traditional IRA and, as with a 401(k), the “magic” age is 59 ½.

Everyone gets older – that’s just a fact of life. And while we can’t avoid aging, we can take steps to ensure that our loved ones are properly cared for when they become elderly and can no longer take care of themselves. It’s a sad fact that abuse of the elderly in nursing homes and medical facilities is an ongoing concern. Not in every facility of course, but it does happen. And unfortunately, the victims frequently suffer in silence.

When it comes to financial matters we need several people we can trust to act in our best interest. These people include friends, relatives and professionals. In legal language, such people are called fiduciaries. A fiduciary can be a person or institution that you trust would act in your best interest when you need help. Fiduciaries can include attorneys, bankers, business advisers, mortgage brokers, real estate agents etc.

An advance medical directive can actually consist of two different legal documents, both designed to protect you medically in the event you can no longer speak on your own behalf. The first is commonly called a Healthcare Power of Attorney or Health Care Proxy and it allows you to specify who will make decisions on your behalf in case of a medical emergency.

A Living Will is a legal document that alerts your healthcare providers to your wishes and preferences regarding medical treatments and life-support measures. Living Wills are used when a person becomes incapacitated by illness, accident or old age and is unable to speak on their own behalf.

If a relative or friend asks you to serve as the executor of their estate – or, more likely, you are choosing an executor for your estate – make sure you know what is involved. In some cases serving as an executor could be quite involved and time-consuming, especially if the estate contains a number of assets and the estate plan is relatively complicated.

One way to divide property is by setting up a life estate. Say, for example, you want to leave your home to one person, but when that person dies, you want the home to pass to another person, instead of to someone your initial beneficiary chooses.

As you probably know, beginning January 1, 2010, Washington loosened rules for converting traditional IRAs (with taxable withdrawals) to “Roth” IRAs (with tax-free withdrawals). The full amount you convert (minus any “basis” in nondeductible contributions) is taxed as ordinary income now when you convert. However, future withdrawals will be tax-free.

A Revocable Trust creates a number of benefits: Privacy, avoiding probate, avoiding or minimizing estate taxes, protection for your heirs from creditors, and the ability to determine when and how beneficiaries receive an inheritance, just to name a few.